THE recent spate of vicious attacks through irresponsible journalism that have been launched by Kaieteur News on the government and Ministry of Agriculture is not surprising, but should be of great concern to all law abiding citizens.

We should recall that in mid-last year when the Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud received a threatening text message allegedly from the country’s most wanted man and the now deceased Rondel Rawlins also known as Fine Man. Investigators revealed that it originated from an IP address used by the Kaieteur News.

As such, it seems that there is some truth to Kaieteur News’ collaborating with political and criminal elements to defame the Ministry and the Government of Guyana. What is the true objective of Kaieteur News? This is what the public wants to know.

The Kaieteur News has been quiet for a while and believes that this incident has been forgotten, but I would like to remind the many readers of threats on a senior government official which has now resurfaced in a new form; disguising itself under the false pretence of practicing investigative journalism.  

I would therefore like to quote the Caribbean Net News report of June 24, 2008 “Kaieteur News publisher, Glenn Lall stated that, if the information is true, it meant that “somebody hacked into our system.”

“I don’t believe any of my staff would have done something like that, especially to Minister Persaud, because he features in this newspaper more than any other government official. We have already cooperated with the police in carrying out their investigations and any further assistance they would need we would facilitate,” Lall said.

Lall said that the suggestion was that Rawlins perhaps came into Kaieteur News, accessed the server and sent his message. He said that the allegations were a serious indictment on his newspaper and that the company was not taking these implications lightly. What has happened to this investigation?

I therefore suggest that all law abiding citizens of this country not to take Kaieteur News as it is portraying itself to be. The management of the newspaper claims to be a watch dog of the nation, but it is simply covering up its own inadequacies and connections to criminal elements.

Finally, I would like the Criminal Investigation Department of the Guyana Police Force to re-examine the threats that were made to the minister that originated from Kaieteur News as there seems to be some truth in the threats; which can lead to severe consequences.
RON Mc PHOY